I'm going to be upgrading the stock speakers in my 2006 Hyundai Sonata GLS soon but I'm having trouble deciding on a good set that will sound alright running on my head unit.

I'm using a Kenwood Excellon KDC-X491 and I also have an Infinity Reference 1252W running on an Infinity 311a at 300W RMS in a sealed box. Nothing too fancy really. I plan on upgrading my sub and amp by summer (probably to a Fi-Q and Hifonics 1200 watt running on a second battery).

I may upgrade to a 4 channel amp to run my speakers later on, but I just don't have the money for it right now.

I need 2 6 1/2 or 6 3/4 component speakers for my front doors (the sail panels have stock tweeters in them now so I have a place to put new ones) and 2 6 1/2 or 6 3/4 drivers (no tweeters) for my rear doors.

My HU can put out 22W per channel and I need speakers that will work and sound at least "ok" at a moderate volume (I usually listen to my system at around 25 on the receiver) with that amount of power.

I was looking at these for fronts because lots of people here seem to praise them, but I just don't think I'll have enough juice to make them work.

I was also trying to shop at Crutchfield just because they give all the proper mounting brackets and wiring adapters for free, but the selection and prices aren't real great.

This Alpine set looked pretty good and should work fine with my HU, but they are a plain old "store brand" so I know they aren't anything special:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-wibzK7jxMCT/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=500SPS600C&s=0&cc=01

And for the rear doors I was looking at these Kickers:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-wibzK7jxMCT/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=20607DS60&s=0&cc=01

But again, they will "work" but if I can get better sound quality for not much more money, I definitely want to.

I listen almost exclusively to death metal, power metal, progressive rock etc... Anyone have any recommendations?

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 12:33 AM

The more I look around the more I'm thinking I should just go for a 4 channel amp right now.

I'll probably have to skimp on the speakers if I'm going to afford an amp.

I've looked a bit on ebay and onlinecarstereo.com for something cheap but I don't know if there are any specific brands or models to stay away from.

I'd like to get a decent amp with 75x4 RMS or better under $100... well under $100 if possible. ;)

lostsuspect21

03-25-2008, 12:35 AM

i just bought a kicker 200.2 which does about 75watts x2 at 4 ohms for $75 at circuit city just throwing that out there for ya

ThomasG

03-25-2008, 12:35 AM

Powering your components with a HU is like feeding a fat kid broccoli.

Seriously buy an amp for your comps, you wont regret it.

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 12:38 AM

Any low priced amp brands I should completely stay away from? I'd just hate to end up with something that dies after a couple months or has some other significant problems.

ThomasG

03-25-2008, 12:40 AM

Any low priced amp brands I should completely stay away from? I'd just hate to end up with something that dies after a couple months or has some other significant problems.

Yes many, the list goes on and on of ****** amp brands. If you have questions about the quality of a certain amp don't be afraid to ask.

94Mazda626

03-25-2008, 12:47 AM

It would be much easier to answer what low cost amps you should look at. The Kicker listed above would do well.

njaykaplan

03-25-2008, 12:51 AM

I would suggest profile's ap line as a nice budget brand.. I believe it was under 100 new, about 5 years ago to run a pair of memphis PRs. Today i use it for a pair of m-sync 6.5s, and it still runs fine.. Cheap and not too many compaints, would say you get rated power.

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 12:52 AM

Thanks for the help. :)

I'm just going to narrow some things down so I'll post a few that seem to have the specs I need for a low price.

You can find some good quality amps in the classifieds section for cheap :fyi:

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 01:04 AM

Should I just get a 2 channel amp for my 2 components in the front doors and leave the 2 rears (non components) connected to the HU? It seems like that'd save a good amount of money. My music is mostly for myself anyway... I don't really ride around with anyone else that wants to hear my music playing at ear-bleeding levels. heh.

ThomasG

03-25-2008, 01:06 AM

Should I just get a 2 channel amp for my 2 components in the front doors and leave the 2 rears (non components) connected to the HU? It seems like that'd save a good amount of money. My music is mostly for myself anyway... I don't really ride around with anyone else that wants to hear my music playing at ear-bleeding levels. heh.

That doesnt sound too bad.

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 01:11 AM

Just throwing this out there because of the price:
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=17055

Plus its small, which would make it much more convenient.

ThomasG

03-25-2008, 01:13 AM

Just throwing this out there because of the price:
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=17055

Yea audiobahn overall is a ****** brand. And I have never heard of blankrupt.

Really man you're just going to find a bunch of **** looking for cheap amps on those sites.

Go to the classifieds and make a thread

"WTB: Amp for components"

state how many watts your are looking for and state how much money you are willing to spend.

That is my suggestion. I'm out.

rumple4skin

03-25-2008, 02:16 AM

audiobahn has really inefficient amps man, there is a tone of great brands out there for cheap. i have tho thro this out there, sundown is cheap as hell for the price man and are great amps, there are many other good bargain brands tho.

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 02:28 AM

Where do most of you guys buy your equipment? I know a lot of people buy second hand, but they have to be bought new at some point, but I have a hell of a time finding most of the brands mentioned on this site. I'm just not real big on buying second hand, especially with high powered equipment like this that can be damaged so easily.

I just looked up Sundown amps and the cheapest I can find is a 100.2 for $299. That's about 3x my price range. heh.

iv herd really great things, but there all about there huge amps(Goliath and vXX) I'm using a brutus 1606 and it never gets hot,puts out a easy 1k watts at 2 ohm (rated at 1100) may not do exactly what its rated at but runs great and never gets hot(also drains vary little power from your bat) I'm about to buy another one and strap them=)

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 02:53 AM

That's looking like my best bet then.

It looks like a very flexible unit too. Up to 400W bridged is pretty good if I ever decide to try something different.

But it still may not be the greatest. I owned a hifonics amp and it didnt give me too much trouble.

But, they are decent budget amplifiers. Make sure yours doesnt get clip happy.

rumple4skin

03-25-2008, 02:56 AM

i have been really happy with my hifonics man, great amp,as long as you don't run it under 1 ohm anyway, i have also seen some pics of some fried hifonics after i got mine but when ran right it has done nothing but please me

Anyone think that the 6.5" PG RSD comps will have any problems fitting in the doors in an '06 Sonata?

Hintzyboy

03-25-2008, 06:51 AM

Just go with a decent 2ch and a good set of comps (Those RSDs can't be beat for the price). For the price listed, that Kicker mentioned early in the thread would be a great amp. Otherwise, there are always good deals in the classifieds on here.

I have a BNIB Eclipse EA2212 for $75 shipped if you're interested.

I wouldn't even bother with rear speakers. Personally, I'd unplug the ones that are in there. You'll get all the sound you need out of the RSDs.

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 01:22 PM

Just go with a decent 2ch and a good set of comps (Those RSDs can't be beat for the price). For the price listed, that Kicker mentioned early in the thread would be a great amp. Otherwise, there are always good deals in the classifieds on here.

I have a BNIB Eclipse EA2212 for $75 shipped if you're interested.

I wouldn't even bother with rear speakers. Personally, I'd unplug the ones that are in there. You'll get all the sound you need out of the RSDs.

Really, you'd just get rid of the rears completely?

I was thinking of just not buying new ones and setting the fader all the way to the front. It'd save me a decent chunk of money. If I ever really really needed more sound in the back seats for some reason I could just mess with the fader a little. But I doubt I'd ever need to.

Anyone know what the mounting depth is on the RSD 6.5s? According to Crutchfield (I just use their support to find out specific measurements without having to rip my car apart) I only have 2.3" of mounting depth for the front speakers and .8 inches of clearance between the grille and the speaker mount.

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 02:02 PM

Well, it looks like the RSDs will not fit. :(

Every site I've found says that they have a 2.5" mounting depth, and I have no room to lift them because of the factory speaker grille.

It seems a bit risky cutting a gigantic hole in the door of my new car just for a half an inch of clearance for a speaker. I'd do it if there was a simple and clean way to make it look good without having the speaker and grill totally exposed to being kicked or getting wet.

CaptNKILL

03-25-2008, 02:35 PM

I hate to triple post, but...

If there is no "easy" way to get the PG RSDs in my car, are there any other low priced speakers that come close in quality?

I'm leaning toward the Alpines because they are so much cheaper... but I'd still love to have those RSDs... if only I could make them fit.

EDIT: I just took off my driver side door panel to see if there was anything I could do to improve the clearance for the RSDs and it seems like there is plenty of room at the top of the speaker but because of the angle its much tighter at the bottom. There is about an inch of space between the surface of the stock speaker and the inside of the stock grille.

Luckily, the grilles are separate pieces and I think with a little work I could modify them if necessary.

One thing I'm curious about is the amount of space I should leave for the woofer on an RSD to move. I know it won't move as much as a sub, but how much would you say is safe when I'm dealing with such tight quarters? I'm thinking I might have about a half inch from the driver to the grille.

CaptNKILL

03-26-2008, 12:26 AM

Well I went ahead and bought the Kicker ZX200.2 refurb from Hifi Sound Connection and a pair of Phoenix Gold RSD 65cs comps brand new on ebay.

Total for the two was around $195 after shipping. Not bad. :)

One way or another I'll get these friggin speakers in this car. heh.

Thanks for the help everyone, this is an awesome community.

-shred-

03-26-2008, 01:13 AM

im prolly going to get an amp in a couple of weeks... i want the PGs because my fronts are blown...... it will still sound better than stock with no amp right?

CaptNKILL

03-26-2008, 03:48 AM

im prolly going to get an amp in a couple of weeks... i want the PGs because my fronts are blown...... it will still sound better than stock with no amp right?

That's what everyone says. I don't think I've heard any systems that had amp-powered speakers (other than subs) since the mid 90s.

I'll admit, my expectations are pretty high for the amp and speakers I just bought. But I guess anything will sound great after running stock paper cone speakers for the past 2 months.